Last Friday was our last day working at camp, and even though we were there for only 2 weeks it was hard to say goodbye. These kids and the leaders left a mark on this journey that I’ll always remember.
Here is our entire camp including the leaders!
There’s so much that happened that I’ll do my best to summarize it with not taking up your entire day.
First off, I didn’t realize that I never thought about teaching my own language. How do I teach English? Since there is 7 of us here and 4 groups, I was by myself with the Blue group. I made it! It was a little bit of a struggle at first but I ended up enjoying it and the kids are super smart, they were writing in English faster than I could explain what to do.
We sang and danced and played hours of Uno in the forest. We even met a young kid named Egor, who loved American football and was pretty good at it. He had quite an arm. He’s 1 out of 12, and 13 years old. I asked him if he wants to go to college/university and he goes, “yeah, I want to go to America and play football.” Egor is the sweetest kid and I really hope to see him fulfilling his dreams.
You really don’t need to say anything to build a connection. Half of my kids would try to say something to me in Ukrainian and I didn’t know what to do. That didn’t stop us from holding hands as we walked to class, or playing cards, or dancing, or playing with some toy rabbits. I had one kid who would try to talk to me, and I smiled, “Kid, I don’t know what you’re saying.” And he just stared at me. You just have to smile and nod. I was asking one of my girls a question and she learned that I thought it was crazy for her to answer yes to everything. “Yes, yes, yes, YES, yes.”
Also good news! My cold was the shortest one I’ve ever experienced! Plus I felt well enough to finish camp strong. My only issue was having to blow my nose, thank you for your prayers!
On a side note, I’m voting myself most likely to get malaria. (only half kidding) At one time I counted 17 active mosquito bites. Ukrainian mosquitoes are stronger than OFF. Plus I got stung by at bee in the forest, and that hurt for the whole day. (Don’t worry, I’ll take medicine.)
We’ve had some delicious Ukrainian meals. I thought I ate a lot of bread back in the states but man, there’s so much here.
Here are some links to recipes of the food I’ve had here. So you can experience the taste of my adventure with me! As much as I love seeing these places, I love being able to make their food, and I can’t wait to take these back with me! I’m going to expand my culinary skills!
https://pin.it/cvtkwck4dn6ij4 https://pin.it/3etnxb6dmts26i https://pin.it/acihzpbpqywkzv
https://pin.it/cqchmgignhncmz https://pin.it/oyieujv34nnjen https://pin.it/n7pee3ly2f2erh
Friday was also Ukraine’s Independence day! The kids at camp dressed up in traditional Ukrainian clothes, and we sung their national anthem. Since it was also the last day of camp they celebrated with pictures, a talent show, pizza, and cake. They handed out certificates to the kids who did exceptionally well in their workshop or class. They also called out our names and we got certificates for “English in our camp.” It was so simple but so sweet!
Since we had a free weekend after camp and were “Hungary” for adventure…
We woke up at 3 a.m. and traveled to Budapest!
I cannot express how excited I was to see water! I love water so much and it was just the icing on the cake for this trip. I spent a lot of time just staring at the river, it was so peaceful.
I found some beautiful little apartments that I could totally see myself living in. So if I pack my bags and run away, check here first.
It rained on Sunday and dropped the temperature to very cold. I was expecting summer so I brought jeans and a tank top…. I ended up buying a flannel.
Brie and I went to Bluebird Cafe and spit a breakfast sandwich and some amazing pancake sushi.
And then we got acai bowls and met a new friend. 🙂
I found the most delicious macarons I have ever tasted. I spent the last morning with just Jesus, praying, listening, enjoying His presence, and everything was right in my world.
But really I got a little obsessed.
I bought this bracelet from a kind lady named Monica, handmade, and super gorgeous. My plan is to get a bracelet from each country I visit since I already have one from Haiti. 2 down 11 to go. (Haven’t got a Ukraine one yet.)
We ate a lot of food, walked for miles, had so much fun in this city.
I’m back in Ukraine now for another week. This week is orphan ministry and on the third we will be in Romania! Ukraine, you were a great first month.
Safe to say I fell in love with Budapest. I had to pull myself away from the river and head to the train station. I wasn’t quite ready to leave. I’ve imagined myself doing some crazy stuff, but never once did I imagine I would be walking around Hungary. Look at how cool God is.
